Stewart’s Shops has put its tap-to-pay feature on hold after a few of its locations were targeted last month in a scam using fraudulent cards, according to report by the Times Union.
Robin Cooper, Stewart’s Shops’ public relations manager, told CSP that this is not a breach. “This is a loophole in tap-to-pay software,” Cooper said. “No customer data at all was compromised.”
Scammers using counterfeit credit cards bought large quantities of products via tap-to-pay at a few Stewart’s Shops in the Catskill region, the newspaper reported, and the transactions went through as if they were legitimate, causing stores to lose money.
Stewart’s Shops first discovered the fraud the night of Oct. 19, then shut everything down, Cooper said.
Stewart's Shops is No. 23 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by number of company-owned retail outlets.
“It’s a loophole in the software that it was allowing—and this is restricted to tap to pay only—where people were using illegal or stolen credit cards,” Cooper told CSP. Those transactions looked like a legitimate credit card was being used, and the scammer was able to purchase a product, he added.
Even though the fraud didn’t affect all of the company’s stores, Stewart’s Shops shut down the tap-to-pay features companywide.
The company’s IT team, working with its software provider, created a patch it will roll out soon, Cooper said.
“We just don’t now the exact date,” Cooper said. “We’ll do a few tests and then put it out there.” At that time, customers will again be able to use the tap-to-pay feature.
“We’re trying to figure out the timing and are working with the New York State Police during their investigation,” Cooper said.
“This is part of a national issue that’s gone on,” he said.
Founded in 1945, Stewart’s Shops is an employee- and family-owned convenience-store chain known for its milk, ice cream, coffee, Easy Food meals and other convenience items. There are 357 Stewart’s Shops in upstate New York and southern Vermont.
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